A SireBound
by Gnash1
Summary: Damon struggles with a way to fix things and the implications of the sire bond despite what his heart wants. Post Season 4, Episode 9. Damon's perspective. Delena. This is not how the books handle the situation, but as a Delena shipper, this is how I would handle the problem.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: I own no part of the characters from the Vampire Diaries and am not affiliated with the show, its writers or the producers in any way. **On the other hand, any original characters contained here are entirely mine and I have given no rights for their use to any party. **This story was written as a fanfic strictly for my entertainment and because the Sire Bond story line royally pissed me off._

**_A Sirebound_**

**_Chapter 1_**

Damon watched the car pull away with his heart sitting in the passenger seat. So Elena was gone. Now things were left just the way Stefan liked them. Damon had used the sire bond to send Elena away. And now he was left hurting for it, for Stefan's sake.

Just a few hours ago things had seemed so right, so peaceful and now it was blasted all to hell again. He had spent the day unable to look Elena in the eye. And yet….just a few hours ago he had believed every word as she told him that she loved him. A simple sentence really, three simple, pointed words. They had meant the world to him coming from her; enough to make all those sunrises and sunsets worthwhile. His world rose and set in those brown eyes, and for a brief, beautiful moment that world had settled on him with love shining there. For that single moment he had known peace; a resting place in her arms.

He stopped and shook his head, forcing himself not to pursue that train of thought. He turned and walked away from the Gilbert lake house, down near the water as the surface moved peacefully away with the wind. At least something was peaceful, because he wasn't. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he conceded that it wasn't just for Stefan that he had sent Elena away. It was for her too. It was unfair of him to take what she wouldn't have willingly given. And right now there was no way to tell what was real and what wasn't.

That last thought had him laughing aloud at himself and he listened as it echoed hollowly across the water. Elena didn't really love him. She couldn't just turn on a dime and stop loving his brother in the matter of a few short weeks. That part of it made the least sense of all to him. She was too good, too kind for that to be something she was capable of.

Damon's cool blue eyes turned bleak, lost in memories, as he stared out blindly across the face of the lake. The picture of the tenderness in her face as her attention had centered on him earlier ran through his mind. It was all an illusion, but a damned pleasant one, at least.

And it wasn't real. All of it was because of a damnable vampire legend that no one else had ever heard of, much less experienced. What had he done to deserve that exactly? Damon turned back toward the house, walking slowly over the stiff grass, hearing it crunch under his feet. Yes, if he was honest, he had done a great deal of damage along the years. He had hurt people, destroyed lives, damaged beyond repair. He had always been so angry. And then she came along.

Those brown eyes of hers haunted him. He had seen them angry, spiteful, damning….all of that directed at him. And somehow, despite her judgment and hatred of him, he had loved her anyway. She had cracked open his chest with her small, soft hands and lit a fire; made a place to live there. He had thought he loved Katherine before. But this was different, consuming. Despite everything she did, rejecting him, hurting him beyond bearing by loving his own brother; he loved her with an urgency that had no match.

They both were sure now that the sire bond kept her with him, bound her heart to him. His heart needed no such magic. He was tied to her for as long as he drew breath whether he liked it or not. At least her feelings could be blamed on magic. Magic could always be answered with magic. He had no such escape. He was the one bound, really. A sire, forever bound, now that she was immortal as well.

He could hardly blame Stefan for loving her. And no one deserved her heart more than Stefan did. But a small, dark something beat within his breast with hatred for his brother because the love Stefan had seen in Elena's eyes for the time they were together had been real. No magic required.

Damon pushed aside the anger and pain that would've choked him if he let it as he opened the back door of the house. He had made a promise to train Jeremy. He would do what he promised and he would stay here until it was done. After that, he wasn't sure. Maybe he could go away for a while. That was what he did, after all. When the going got tough, Damon got going.

X X X

Damon sat on the grass in the darkness outside Elena's bedroom window. His resolve not to see her had lasted just about as long as a fresh change of clothes. He told himself as he had driven into town from the lake house that he would just look in on her. But it was more than that. He was sitting in the darkness waiting for her breathing to even out, telling him she slept. And then he would leave, or so he kept telling himself.

When the even breathing finally happened, he moved to her window and slid it upward. Soundlessly he went to stand beside her on the bed. He saw the reason for the hitch in her breathing now. Her face was still wet with tears and that was all the excuse he needed. Edward Cullen creepy or not, Damon laid down beside her on the bed and pulled her small form into his arms as the moisture built behind his own lids. Cool gentle hands wiped away the moisture from her smooth cheeks as she continued to sleep.

He tucked her dark head against his chest and locked one of his arms around her small waist. The end result was her pressed to his side, her warm, sweet cotton candy scent all around him. With one hand, he smoothed her rioted dark hair gently, thinking what a treasure she was.

Elena was hurting. He had caused more pain. Yet again, everything he touched turned to shit. She was better off without him, but it caused her pain because of the bond they didn't know how to demolish. And watching her hurting would demolish him. Everywhere he turned there was pain, her pain, his pain, Stefan's pain. How the hell had they found themselves here and what kind of cruel joke was this, anyway? He turned his eyes to the ceiling, raging silently at whoever was guiding this damnable mess. He would strangle the life out whoever was responsible if he ever locked eyes with them.

She moved in his arms for a second before he realized she was waking. She pushed up and away from him, her brown eyes locking with his blue ones. She seemed to take in his gaze for a moment sleepily before she smiled and snuggled back into his arms.

Into the darkness around them, she said, "I was dreaming about you."

He opened his mouth, trying to answer her, and for a minute nothing came out. Pain filled his chest and sloshed around for a second like water in a bottle. His voice thick with it, he finally said, "You still are."

"Well, it's a nice dream, then." She pushed her face into his shirt, grasping the material with one hand. "I miss you."

Pain surged again, choking the unlife out of him. More moisture behind his eyes danced, tormenting him. If this was a dream for her, which it would be now, since he had told her it would be, he would be honest.

"I…." His voice cracked for a second under the pressure. "I miss you, too, Elena."

Her brown eyes leveled on him, pain radiating in all directions. "But you sent me away."

He swallowed, hard and drew in a hissing breath. "I did what had to be done."

"But you still love me?" Her voice was small and frail scattering like dust in the darkness around them. Her brown eyes had filled again.

His own eyes sparkled with moisture as they met hers and held her gaze. He brushed the moisture away from one eye with his thumb. "That will never change. You already know that."

Things would be so much simpler if he was a better man. Right here, right now he could tell her never to think of him again. He could tell her to forget she had ever seen his face. Simple words could send her right back into Stefan's arms like things should be and she would never hurt like this about _him_ ever again. But Damon was selfish.

Some corner of him hoped that there might be something real here for them to build on. If he pushed her away completely using the sire bond, there would be no chance at all for them…..ever. Hope. For the first time in forever, he had hope and he couldn't bring himself to sink his fangs into it and suck out the fragile life. If he told her to never think of him again, that was exactly what he would be doing.

Elena pushed her face into his chest again, throwing one arm over him and hugging him tight in response to his reassuring words about loving her always.

"What are we going to do, Damon?" The words were muffled against his black shirt, but they were full of the simple faith in him he had heard from her before. She really believed, for just this moment, that he would find a way to fix this.

The faith got him. Despite his uncompromising ability to screw up every way from Sunday, she still believed in him. Because she believed, he had to make it happen. Somehow.

He cupped the back of her head gently with one hand. "I will think of something, Elena. This will be okay. I promise."

She raised her head slowly and pressed her cool lips to his, sending sparks flying behind his eyelids as his entire body clenched in surprise and sensation. At least his responses were still real. He always felt this when they were this close.

"I know you will, Damon. I believe in you." She said the words against his lips before pressing another kiss to them. He was momentarily paralyzed with longing and fear warring inside him.

The paralysis brought thoughts of self-doubt. _What if he failed? What if there was no way to break this bond beyond him leaving? What if there was never any chance of Elena's love for him being anything but two children playing house? _Anger replaced agony as his own resolve answered his fears. _Fuck that. He would not fail. He couldn't. Too much was riding on this. He would find a way to break this sire bond and let Elena choose who she would love all on her own. And maybe, just maybe, he would stand a chance…._

He forced his myscles to unlock as he pushed up from the bed, kissing her lips swiftly, then pressing a chaste kiss to her brow.

"You are dreaming. Go back to sleep. Don't dream, just rest. And don't worry. I will fix this, Elena. I promise." She had already closed her eyes and moved back to the pillow obediently as he forced himself to turn swiftly and go back out the window. With every step he told himself the ache of leaving her there would ease, but it didn't.


	2. Chapter 2

Damon spent a sleepless night running over and over the problem in his mind. By morning he had made a few phone calls and was ready. It wasn't the best plan he had ever had, but it was something. He had to be _doing something_.

He barged into Jeremy's room before sunrise. Making as much noise as possible, he jerked open the closet and pulled out Jeremy's bag. Jeremy was on his feet in a heartbeat, stake in hand. Damon did what came naturally. He roared with laughter at him.

"Please. Put that thing away and pack a bag. I don't have time to play." Jeremy shook his head, looking like he was trying to clear it. "Come on Junior. We have a plane to catch."

"A plane?" The young hunter lowered his stake, his conscious mind taking over evidently, as he fell back onto the bed again, watching Damon closely. Damon was moving through the contents of the boy's closet looking for essentials and flinging them over the duffel bag.

"Yes. A plane." Damon mumbled it as he flung open a drawer. "Don't just sit there, kid. Move! Our plane leaves in half an hour and I can explain on the way."

"Why would I go with you?" Jeremy had crossed his arms over his chest, his white tank shirt pulling tight across what had very recently become broad shoulders.

Damon pushed down his frustration and turned. "I promised to train you. This could prove a useful exercise for you." His blue eyes snapped and mouth stretched into a falsely wide smile as he said, "We could stay here and I'd be the only vamp around for you to kill. Or we could do this trip and there might even be a vampire or two for you to kill along the way…..besides just me." _Two birds, one stone,_ he thought. _He could do both, train the boy as promised and trace the answer for this bond problem at the same time._

Jeremy appeared to consider, his conviction appearing to waver for a second. He looked back at Damon again and as he stood. "I like the first option best." Damon heard the boy mumble. _It was a relief really. Jeremy didn't like him and didn't trust him. That was a solid, a truth that never changed. Damon could count on Jeremy to question everything he did, including his motives. The two of them had only one thing in common, a love for Elena. At least with Jeremy around, he always knew where he stood. _

"At least tell me where we're going." Jeremy had started wadding clothes up and shoving them into his bag.

"Utah." Damon answered the question on the way out of the room. He didn't have time to explain right now.

Jeremy coughed loudly in surprise before he pulled on his jeans and his shoes. At least the boy was moving, though.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The two of them were loading things into a rental car at the airport as Jeremy asked, "So we're looking for a witch you used to know? Why again, exactly?"

Damon raised a shoulder in a shrug. "She knows vampire lore better than most vampires. It's been thirty years. I'm hoping she will have run across the little problem that Elena and I have and know how to fix it."

Jeremy's eyes widened as he took that in. "So you actually want rid of the sire bond?" Damon nodded as he closed the rear door and headed for the driver's seat. Jeremy was silent until he slid into the passenger seat and put a hand over Damon's to stop him from starting the car.

"That doesn't play with everything I know about you, man." The words, the doubt in them, gave Damon pause. Jeremy was right. To him what they were doing wouldn't make sense. Damon fixed his gaze out past the hood of the four wheel drive SUV and drew in a cleansing breath before he spoke. The boy had the right to ask these questions. It would be his neck on the line here too.

"Right. I know." Damon swallowed for a second before he went on. "Look, I don't want her like this." He shrugged, still not meeting Jeremy's gaze. "It's worthless if it's not real."

He could feel Jeremy studying his profile. "So you're prepared for her to go back to Stefan when the bond is gone?"

The pain bubbled over for a minute as Damon closed his eyes and opened them again slowly, turning to meet Jeremy's eyes. "Yeah. I expect it, even."

"And all of this is to free her to be able to do that?" Damon nodded in answer, moving his gaze out the windshield again.

Under his breath, he heard Jeremy say, "I guess you really do love my sister." Damon slipped the key into the ignition as he answered that one too.

"Yes, Jeremy. I really do love her. Enough even for this."

Fifty miles and a rest stop later Damon led Jeremy into a motel office. The sign proudly announced that there were vacancies; which was no real surprise considering the shape of the place. There was nothing else around for miles though. The dust blew in behind them as they opened the creaking, dirty glass door.

The counter was an ugly, stained olive green and dusty plastic plants hung from macramé covered containers in every corner. A very tall, very sweaty man with chocolate brown skin and thick glasses peered at them over the counter. The man's dark eyes took in Jeremy as he tipped his head back and sniffed the air for a second, then he turned and studied Damon boldly, rising to his full height, which was well over six feet. He slowly slipped his glasses off his nose and planted them on top of his shiny bald head as disdain pulled his features into a feral smile.

The man's eyes narrowed on Damon as he spoke in a very deep, husky voice. "You're not too smart, are ya?"

"Ezekiel. How have you been?" Damon raised both hands in surrender as he spoke, stepping forward slowly. Jeremy's eyes flickered in surprise, clearly not seeing the threat.

"Satisfied believing I'd never see your ugly face again. That's how I've been." The man's voice had lowered and his eyes glowed with a bright orange light. "And you're keeping strange company these days. A hunter? Really?" The orange eyes turned on Jeremy as Ezekiel's voice dropped two octaves, the words a low and throaty growl, "Don't you know you're supposed to kill his kind, BOY?"

Jeremy shrugged, smiling in answer. "I'm letting him live…for now." The large man's eyes glittered for a second over Damon before he turned again to take in Jeremy with a new appreciation. He tipped his head back as the orange light faded from his eyes and he laughed long and hard, the sound filling the room with warmth Damon hadn't noticed before.

He had always liked Zeke.

"I see the boy knows you pretty well, Damon." Ezekiel slid his glasses back down and sank back to his stool behind the counter.

Damon smiled and shrugged. "Where can I find her?" He didn't have time for pleasantries.

Ezekiel immediately shook his head. "You don't want to do that. She's gotten bitchy in her old age and you are not a happy-time subject around here."

Damon slapped his hand down on the Formica counter and the sound rang out forcing Ezekiel to his feet again. "Damn it, Zeke! I don't need advice. I need a "where"." He looked long and hard into the werewolf's black eyes before he said the word he despised most. "Please."

He watched the black eyes widen in surprise. "You're different." Damon could only nod before he lowered his eyes. He knew Zeke could see a lot with those dark eyes of his.

Ezekiel laughed again, longer and louder this time. Damon heard the satisfaction ringing in it and knew Ezekiel had seen more than he would've liked.

"Ahhhh…..justice." The big man savored the word. "It's nice to see it now and then." Ezekiel snorted a time or two, still chuckling to himself at Damon's apparent discomfort.

"Gloat later. Where can I find Harper?" Damon comforted himself with thoughts of strangling the much larger man with his bare hands. _Yes, he deserved whatever he got, _he acknowledged silently._ But watching his frenemies gloat over it damned well didn't figure into the equation._

"Harper's in the Northlands this week. But you seriously don't want to go there, dude. She will tear your head off and shit down your neck. Seriously. She's still pissed. And she hasn't exactly mellowed with age."

Damon turned and was out the door before Ezekiel could finish his sentence. He did hear his former friend bellow as he opened the car door, "It's your funeral pyre, man."

Jeremy slid into the passenger seat as Damon slammed the car in reverse.

"So you've always had all that charm then?" Jeremy was smiling, his youthful voice an echo of Ezekiel's mockery.

Damon plastered a false grin across his face as he turned and backed the car away from the motel entrance. "I'm a charming guy."

"What _is_ this chick if a werewolf the size of that one is so afraid of her?" Jeremy asked over the loud sound of the whining engine as Damon pushed the vehicle to high speeds.

Without looking up, Damon answered. "She's an Aether witch."

"A what?"

"An Aether witch. She can manifest whatever suits her from the Aether…you know, the atmosphere." He tried to shrug off the dawning discomfort he was feeling at Zeke's warnings. "The strength of the witch decides exactly how substantial what she manifests is. When I knew Harper she was young and new at the art. But that's been thirty years ago. According to Zeke she's evidently strong as hell now."

Jeremy shifted in his seat for a minute, seeming to absorb that before he spoke again. "So….this extremely strong witch wants to see your head on a platter. Why would that be, exactly?"

Damon shifted uncomfortably in his own seat for a second wondering if lying would be the best answer here. He cleared his throat, deciding on the bald truth for a change. "It might be because she trusted me and I sort of bit her the last time I saw her." There were always extenuating circumstances, but he had done this thing when his humanity was just a memory, after all. And how did one defend that, anyway.

His answer was met with stony silence from Jeremy, who had turned to stare at him. The boy drew a long breath before he spoke again. "You really are a bastard, aren't you?"

All Damon could do was nod. _Yes, yes he was._


	3. Chapter 3

Driving northward for nearly an hour hadn't lessened the tension in the SUV one bit. At least Damon didn't have to worry about ruining Jeremy's good opinion of him with a little bit of brutal honesty. There weren't many good opinions of him knocking around anyway. Elena, maybe….and that was strictly against her better judgment, considering the sire bond. _Even she knew better._

The truly ironic thing was that Elena and her good, loving heart made him want, very desperately in fact, to be a better man. He met his reflection in the rearview mirror and saw that his own blue eyes looked pained. He tended not to consider others…ever. It was a failing of his. A younger, more innocent version of him had. But that same younger man wanted desperately for people to like him. That was a weakness immortality had long since cured.

If he was honest with himself, the entire concept of "doing the right thing" had always baffled him. _How the hell was he supposed to manage that?_ He couldn't go back and take away the pain he had caused. And moving forward got more complicated with every breath because of the simple fact that even when he tried not to do harm, he still managed to do it anyway….one way or another. Damon didn't have _a fucking clue_ how to be that better man. Not killing people didn't seem to count. In his book that was a plus, but no one else seem to notice or give him credit for it. He could be out hunting, killing and doing what came naturally. But he didn't. The humanity that Elena's influence had reintroduced to him forced a hellish conscience on him and he couldn't turn the damned thing off.

He settled his eyes forward, eyes scanning the landscape as he searched for signs of life. They were approaching what had once been the Northlands campsite that Harper was so fond of.

One thing was certain in Damon's mind. If, when this was done, those soft brown eyes turned on him with warmth and the love he ached for, _he would find a way_ _to be that better man._ And he would do it because Elena deserved a better man than him. Honestly she deserved his brother, but his black heart would still hang on desperately to the hope that she might find it in hers to make room for him. He couldn't go back and change things, but for her, he would change what was to come.

Jeremy interrupted his musings, tapping hard on the passenger side window. "Hey, is that a fire over there?"

Damon slammed on the brakes, sending the SUV into a skid for a second. When the car stopped, he saw the fire, the direction of it and knew they had reached the place.

"Alright, listen Junior." Jeremy turned at the name, an angry glint settling into his eyes.

"You know, I'm sick of that. I'm not Junior, or kiddo, or buddy or any other thing you decide to call me. I'm damned sick of your total lack of respect." Jeremy spat the words at him, fist clenched at his side.

Damon kept in mind that this was Elena's brother and he should try not to antagonize the little shit. "Alright. Let's try this. Listen _Jeremy_, you wait here. Don't get out of the car. If I'm not back in half an hour, start the car and drive away." The sarcasm was thick. He couldn't help himself, and he watched the boy's face harden into fury. "You'll get my respect, _Jeremy_, when you've earned it. I don't have time to be babysitting right now. So just do what I said, got that?" He slammed the door on the boy's glower.

He headed for the campfire he could see flickering about a quarter mile off. He would've parked closer, but the area was surrounded with large wooden posts laid out along the roadside to prevent teenagers from four wheeling through the camps. As he got closer, he stayed close to the shadows, moving quietly. He could see a single, small form sitting on a log around a dancing fire. She appeared to be singing or chanting. He could hear the soft, clear voice carrying on the wind, but couldn't make sense of the words. He did recognize the blue sparks that the wind carried upward as she spoke, though.

He had come close enough that he knew she would be able to hear his footsteps soon, so he called her name in the darkness. With the sound of his voice, her small form stood and turned, meeting his eyes over the fifty yards or so that was still between them. He saw her freeze. In fear? Was she afraid? That didn't bode well, but he supposed it could be worse. And then he watched the "worse" unfold.

The blue sparks from before, her signature, danced and spread around her, into a growing blue cloud. Damon watched in horror as she stepped into a thick cloud of the stuff and disappeared altogether. Damn it! How did he follow her, exactly? But she came back out of the cloud of light, a loud rushing sound followed by a high keening feline cry. A monstrous mountain lion stepped out of the blue light and the blue sparks danced along its golden fur settling onto a trail behind her. Her tail whipped gracefully making the blue dust dance around and the great head raised high to the wind, evidently drawing in his scent. The creature was easily three times the size of a normal mountain lion and the eyes glowed with the wicked blue fire.

Damon followed his instincts. He turned and ran for his life. He felt the ground under him rumble with the size of the thing as it gained on him, vampire speed or not. He turned and moved into a gathering of trees, turning quickly and reaching for his fastest speeds. But she kept time with him. He could feel how close she was, turning as he turned, moving as he moved.

Dear God! She was _hunting him! _In the next breath he was face down in the pine needles and covering of dead leaves with a large paw in the middle of his back pressing him downward hard enough to hear his ribs break under the strain.

From behind and above him, Harper's small voice filled the air. "I always knew you'd come. Every dog has his day….or cat, I guess I should say." She used a large paw to roll him over in the leaves and he blinked hard trying to push past the horror and the pain in his ribs.

"Listen Harper…"

The great cat opened its beaming blue eyes wide, and he watched the whiskers, nearly as long as his arm flick around, seeming to taste the air. Her melodic voice came out of the open, very sharply fanged mouth. "You aren't going to talk yourself out of this one, Damon. You've had this coming for _way_ too long. Welcome to your reckoning my old friend."

His arms came up instinctively across his face as the monstrous cat's mouth lowered threateningly. It was then that he heard a rustling sound above him. Even Harper noticed, the great animal freezing with a single paw planted firmly in the middle of his chest, its claws extended. Damon drew in a breath of surprise and then caught the familiar scent. _Damn it_. Jeremy. He shifted slightly and saw that the kid was sitting, leaned against a tree a couple of yards away.

The great cat swung its head toward the boy and Damon's entire body clenched in horror. _He would not let the boy get hurt. He didn't know how he was going to prevent it, but he wouldn't let it happen….not because of him. _

The cat centered its gaze on Jeremy before Harper spoke. "Damon, it's incredibly rude not to introduce me to your hunter friend." She sounded suddenly prim. Manners. Damon had forgotten that about Harper. She put a great deal of value on good manners.

He drew a breath, coughed for a moment under the pressure of the massive paw still pressing his chest down before he said, obediently, "Harper, this is Jeremy." He coughed again, a hand coming up to be spattered with his own blood.

"It's nice to meet you, Jeremy. Is there something I can do for you?" She settled onto her great haunches gracefully, the long tail whipping around, indicating her interest in the interruption. Damon watched the large head cock to one side, studying Jeremy curiously.

"No. I just wanted to watch. Don't let me interrupt." Jeremy answered her, crossing his arms and flicking a single hand in the air for the large cat to continue. Damon fought back a laugh. The boy sounded like he was enjoying himself.

The golden head tilted to the other side, the blue eyes glinting a little brighter. Damon heard laughter in the voice that said, "Aren't you going to attack me, Jeremy? Try to save your friend?"

Jeremy laughed. It rang out in waves around them. "If you were threatening a friend, I would, I suppose. You'll be doing me a favor. I'm just settling in for the show."

That surprised Harper enough to raise her paw from Damon's chest for a second. Then she settled it again on one of his arms, continuing to effectively pin him down. She swung her blue eyes back down, looking at Damon again. The blue was lost for a moment as she blinked, then her jaw stretched into a jagged, threatening smile.

Harper's voice was filled with more laughter as she said, "I see you haven't changed a bit." Damon tried to shrug, his lips pulling into a small smile. He would strangle that boy if he ever had the chance, Elena's little brother or not.

Jeremy interrupted the blue gaze studying Damon when he said "Ezekiel, the werewolf we spoke with earlier, said that you would tear off Damon's head and shit down his neck. I was hoping not to miss that."

Damon coughed again before he spoke, "Um…Jer. How about you try not to help quite so much? Hmmmm…?"

But Harper tipped her great, triangular golden head back and filled the forest with her roar of genuine laughter. Damon watched Jeremy's grin widen and hoped for the opportunity to annihilate him.

Harper pulled her feline smile again as she addressed Jeremy. "Ezekiel always did have a gift for drama. No. I'm not going to "rip his head off" at all." She whipped her tail around, wrapping it along Damon's leg possessively. "I'm going to _eat_ him."

Damon sputtered in horror at that. He couldn't help it. The blue eyes lowered, glinting evilly at him. "That's what _he_ did to _me_, after all. Isn't it sweetie?" She looked back up, meeting Jeremy's eyes. "He fed on me. Left me for dead. It's only fair, don't you think? A reckoning." Despite her strength, her power, the small, childlike voice seemed to be looking for permission. Jeremy being who he was, gave it to her.

"Of course." Jeremy answered her, nodding enthusiastically. "And it would settle the problem that brought us here, anyway. The perfect solution, I think."

That seemed to bring Harper up short. Her attention centering swiftly on Jeremy again. "What do you mean, exactly, about a solution?"

Jeremy shrugged lightly, and Damon was making motions for him to be quiet, which went ignored. He watched the boy cross his arms over his chest, leaning more heavily into the tree.

"Lover boy there." Jeremy nodded in Damon's direction. "It's a long story, but he's spent nearly two years following my poor sister around like a lost pup." Jeremy laughed and Damon fumed. "My sister naturally loves someone else…his brother to be exact."

Jeremy shook his head in derision and Harper spoke up. "You mean Stefan?"

Jeremy nodded at the question and continued. "So somehow lover boy "accidentally"," he made the air quotes with his fingers at the word, "got my sister changed into the freak of nature he is." He crossed his legs casually, and Damon noticed that the large cat had leaned back on her haunches nearly loosening her hold on his arm. If he wasn't so angry, he would've used the loose hold to attack, get away….something. But at the moment he was absolutely seething after only a couple of sentences from Elena's "sainted" little brother. Following closely behind the anger was the agony. Every word the little bastard said was true.

Jeremy continued. "But see, here's the beauty of it. When he changed her, a sire bond was made, tying my big sister to that sonofabitch." He threw Damon another disdainful gaze and Damon found he didn't have the strength to meet his dark, accusing eyes. "So she dumped Stefan, the guy she's loved forever to be with _him_."

The pulsing blue eyes lowered to look into Damon's, studying him.

"So basically, we're here looking for a way to end a sire bond so that she is free to choose again." He paused for effect and the cat turned to look at Jeremy again. "I've been contemplating killing him myself. It's the fastest, easiest way to end this mess. No sire….no sire bond, right?"

Harper's ear's twitched and her tail lashed again, evidence of her confusion. "So you brought him here?" She asked Jeremy.

Jeremy shook his head. "No. No. This little road trip was his idea…." The boy leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. At her narrowed, questioning eyes, Jeremy said "That part seemed a little nuts to me, too. I asked him why he was trying to end the bond. So he says he doesn't want her if it's not real." The great cat pulled her head up high in apparent surprise. Jeremy went on as if she had spoken. "Right. Weird. I personally think when the bond is broken she'll go right back to Stefan. But lover boy here wants to try to free her anyway."

Jeremy met Damon's eyes across the layer of wet, dead leaves and the darkness. "Think of it this way, man. When Harper here kills you, Elena will be free and you won't be around to see her go right back to your brother. And I don't get my hands dirty….a bonus." Jeremy's tone was conciliatory and mocking at once…..and if not for a very large, very intimidating cat Damon would've taken his fool head off. Clearly Damon wasn't the only one with a penchant for brutal honesty.

Unfortunately what the kid said was also true. The words echoed in the hollowness of his black heart rattling around where Elena had made her home. He found he didn't have the heart left to argue, even for his life.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's note: Sorry about how long it took to update. I caught my husband's cruddy bronchitis and have spent the last two to three days in bed trying not to die….kinda like Damon when you saw him last. **_____

Chapter 4

Harper's great whiskers flicked around again, tail lashing hard against the ground next to Damon. With each strike of the long golden tail, blue dust puffed up and scattered around him. Finally, after a minute of silence, she leaned down and forward, her warm feline breath running over his face.

"What did you hope to gain by coming here?" Her melodic voice was thick with suspicion.

"Answers." Damon provided, unable to meet the electric blue eyes. Casting his eyes away, he noticed a leaf on his shoulder and brushed it away with the hand she wasn't sitting on.

Harper's large tail came around, lashing against the side of his face. "I think I begin to understand." With that beguiling comment, she leaned down and quickly sank a dozen or so teeth the size of his hand into his left shoulder as a gasp of surprise and pain escaped him. And just as suddenly and quickly she pulled away. The huge golden cat turned, her long graceful body swaying slightly as she turned and disappeared into the darkness…..which made no damned sense at all.

Damon's hand came up to his shoulder in an attempt to stop the blood. He was surprised to find that Jeremy had moved quickly to his side, helping him to sit and pressing hands to the back of his shoulder where there were puncture wounds he couldn't reach.

In a low voice behind him, Jeremy was saying, "I really thought this was gonna get ugly." Jeremy was saying. "I've got to get you out of here." The young voice was laced with concern which only amped up Damon's suspicion.

Damon's head pounded with annoyance and pain as he turned to Jeremy, "You didn't get the show you were looking for. Poor kid."

Jeremy met his gaze boldly, but didn't answer. On close inspection, Damon saw for the first time that the boy was perhaps stronger than he had ever noticed. Damn. He didn't like being wrong.

"Right." He looked at his hand and saw that the bleeding was stopping. "I'll live, this time. Give me a hand up, will ya?"

"Where did she go?" Without a word, the boy wrapped one arm around Damon to stop the swaying he was doing. Damon supposed he had lost more blood than he had realized. He'd always hated cats. Now he knew why.

From behind them, a familiar melodic voice answered. "She went to change into something more comfortable." Harper. _Shit_. She had come back.

Damon spun, expecting to be attacked again and topped it off with another less than graceful sway as the world spun right along with him. Alright, not in his best form, but he wouldn't go down this time without a fight. But, rather than the damned cat, he found Harper in her human form leaning comfortably against a tree, smiling crookedly at him.

She had always been slight. No more than five feet tall and a whopping ninety eight pounds soaking wet, it was a wonder that so small a package could deliver such a wallop as he'd just suffered. Her black hair hung just below her shoulders, straight and smooth, reflecting a little of the light that filtered through the trees from the full moon above them. Her skin was a smooth light brown and her nearly black eyes almond shaped. She had always been proud of her Asian heritage, and rightly so. She wore it beautifully.

The thing that surprised him most, other than that she wasn't still a huge cat making ready to eat him, was the fact that she showed no signs of aging at all. A minute of quick math told him she should be in her fifties, and looked exactly as she had thirty years ago. _Thirty years ago….damn…_

"Harper. Listen, I…." Words failed him. _There was a lot he should say. But none of it would come out. _

She flicked a hand at him dismissively. "How's the shoulder?" She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "A bite for a bite. That seemed fair."

"Yeah, I heal fast." Her sense of justice seemed a little lopsided. He had nearly killed her with his bite. Hers had hurt a little more than his pride, but not by much. Still, she nodded.

"And just for the record, you taste terrible." Harper wiped her mouth again, this time a little more vigorously. Damon couldn't help but think, _Good. He liked the idea of leaving a bad taste in her mouth._ His mouth stretched into a sly, if slightly weak, smile.

"Answers, huh?" Harper crossed her arms, watching him try not to sway any more. _He needed to eat. _"My interest in vampire lore waned a bit after you left….." She turned suddenly and seemed to change the subject entirely. "Are you hungry, Jeremy?"

Jeremy's response was to sputter in confusion before he finally nodded.

"Alright. There's a large cabin I'm staying at nearby with a friend. Come back with me. I'll feed you both." She had started to turn away as if they should follow her, but she spun quickly wagging a finger at Damon. "I have some blood bags handy, so don't you go getting any ideas." And then she smiled. _She smiled? What the hell was going on exactly?_

The small woman had already turned and was heading back into the darkness of the trees again. Her black dress pants and sweater made her blend away that much more quickly. Damon met Jeremy's questioning eyes and shrugged. The two of them followed her in silence. But Damon didn't like being confused and didn't exactly trust her. Harper had always been full of surprises, but this was more than he could take and keep his mouth shut.

"Um…." He spoke to her retreating back as they followed closely behind her in the dark. "I don't understand, Harper. You were going to make a meal of me two seconds ago. Now you're offering to feed _us_. What happened?"

She laughed without turning. "Disappointed?" The question hung in the air around them as he felt Jeremy swing around, watching Damon's profile closely. He stumbled over a tree root, lost in thought for a second. He found he couldn't answer her. "Exactly." Harper sounded satisfied at his silence. "I think maybe you did something in the last thirty years that I never would've expected. You grew up. Thank. You. God." She paused, stepping around a log before she went on.

Jeremy was still watching him and when Damon turned his direction he recognized something resembling dawning surprise in the boy's face. He glowered at the boy before Harper interrupted.

"My friend might actually be able to help you with your little problem. He's very useful that way." Damon heard a fondness in her tone when she spoke of her "friend". "In the meantime, I can feed you both at the least."

"Why would you help at all?"

She turned quickly, walking backwards for a step or two. She lifted her empty hands for him to see. "Maybe I think this new Damon might be worth getting to know…." He rolled his eyes and she laughed. "Well, the last time I saw you, your priority was three things. You, you and you. I suppose at the very least I would like to understand what happened to change you so much. This girl of yours must really be something." Harper, still walking backwards, let out a small squeal of surprise as she stepped into two outstretched arms that wrapped around her torso.

A tall figure stood behind her in the darkness and Harper's squeal of fear changed to laughter as a familiar male voice said, "A "useful friend", am I? That's the best you could do at describing this? I'm wounded, woman." Harper turned in the man's arms and as the light changed, Damon realized he was watching the witch lightly kiss the chin of an Original. There was no escaping them. Damon shook his head in frustration. _Elijah. Damn it. What the hell was Elijah doing here in the middle of nowhere?_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Damon watched Elijah and the witch seem to forget anyone else was around. He watched in wonder as Elijah ran a thumb over Harper's cheek. "You didn't come back. I heard your cat call a few minutes ago and I started to worry." Harper smiled up at him and Damon watched Elijah seem to unbend, relaxing as he had not ever seen the other vampire do…ever.

"I'm sorry. I got caught up in a bit of drama." She spun in Elijah's arms back to the two of them, still watching the exchange in the darkness. "This is…."

Elijah interrupted her, turning to the two of them. "Damon and Jeremy. How very strange to find a two familiar faces so far from Virginia. What exactly are the two of doing here?" Damon noticed that Elijah's actions didn't match his casual tone. His eyes had narrowed, his spine straightening and that he was moving Harper behind him carefully with one hand, blocking her with his body. This did not look like it was going to go well.

Jeremy, beside him, seemed to have kicked into hunter mode, his posture changing to a low loose limbed crouch. The kid had lost his damned mind. Damon had seen what Elijah could do and although one was just as good as another between Harper and Elijah for Damon's purposes, he didn't need the kid lying dead next to him. _Damn it._

But Harper put a small hand on Elijah's and Damon saw that the other vampire's entire body seemed to lock in place. Harper was searching his face, speaking gently saying "Wait. It's alright. He represents no danger. Damon came here looking for me."

Elijah's dark eyes turned on Damon then and he got the impression that Harper wasn't actually helping Damon's cause any. "And why exactly would you do that, Damon?"

But Harper answered for him. "Well, he says he came here looking for some answers about some vampire lore. Only he didn't honestly expect me to help him. He really came here hoping I would kill him." She laughed, but Jeremy had risen from his crouch and was openly staring at Damon by then.

"And why didn't you oblige him, lady?" Elijah hadn't taken his eyes from Damon, but one eyebrow had lifted at her words.

"Because he's gained something he lacked the last time I saw him. He has his humanity now. And a little bit of selflessness. I now simply _have_ to know why. I might still oblige him, when it's all said and done." Harper shrugged a little as if it was nothing to her either way and turned in the darkness to head again in the direction she had been headed before Elijah appeared. She seemed to assume the men would follow.

Elijah fell in step with Harper while Damon and Jeremy followed closely behind, moving again through the darkened trees. The two of them were discussing their unknown mutual association with Damon and he was lost momentarily in the interchange, wondering if Harper had told him about the little trying to kill her thing. But after another turn, Damon was struck by the sheer size and volume of light breaking through the darkness. The "cabin" was actually more the size of a lodge and lit brightly and joyfully enough that it scattered morose darkness in all directions. It stood two stories tall with a large wrapping porch around the second floor that extended to two sets of stairs, one on each side. The entire structure was broken into three sections from the outside. The middle, largest section peaked with a rough wood roof and had a large, expansive window in the middle, also broken with roughly hewn logs making geometric shapes at that peak. Below it was an expansive room and two elegant sliding doors. On either side were smaller versions of the roof and windows above, smaller windows below. The exterior was honey colored, roughly hewn logs met effortlessly and solidly. At its base, the cabin was ringed by a four foot tall foundation of lovingly crafted rock and stones fit together expertly and encased in cement. It was beautiful. And it hadn't been here thirty years ago. Of that, Damon was certain.

Damon found his voice. "God, Harper, this is…" Words failed him, but his tone must've spoken volumes because Harper turned, giving him a brilliant smile and nodded.

"He does good work, doesn't he?" Harper shook her head in Elijah's direction and Damon managed not to sputter, but just barely. "I wished for a cabin once, here in the woods, in his hearing." She led them up the stairs proudly, running a loving hand along the rail as she went. "This is the result. He built it with his own hands." She opened the door and stepped in, inviting Damon in without hesitation. She finished her comments by saying, "I'm a little more careful what I wish for, these days." She stepped forward and pressed her lips to Elijah's cheek before turning without a word and leaving them.

Elijah led them into a large, but not formal, dining room where the three of them sat. The furniture, the same color as the exterior and the trim in the room was like polished glass and simple in design. A perfect match, and Damon didn't bother to ask. He was fairly certain Elijah had made this too. He watched the older vampire quietly wondering how long he and Harper had known one another and the depth of their connection. He also couldn't help but wonder if Elijah knew that Damon had been the one who had nearly killed her so long ago. _He was beginning to get the impression that was a revelation he might not survive._

Hearing Harper move away, out to a storage room, Elijah leaned forward loosening the button of his black suit jacket and speaking swiftly to both Damon and Jeremy. "I will say this now, out of her hearing." He cut his eyes in the direction Harper had disappeared before he sternly met Jeremy's eyes and then Damon's. "None of my family know about Harper or this place. It will stay that way." He leaned back in his high back chair. "Or I will know where the information came from." He turned again, hearing her begin to return. "And if anything should happen to her due to your lack of silence, I will scrub the earth clean of anything or anyone either of you have ever loved. Regret or no regret. Am I understood?"

Damon's own eyes narrowed and his entire body clenched at Elijah's words. He had found the letter Elijah left for Elena, voicing his regret at using her the last time he had been in Mystic Falls. Damon understood the reference to regret. Elijah was saying it would be an eye for an eye here as well. He would kill Elena if Damon or Jeremy got Harper hurt by telling his secrets. He couldn't help but respect Elijah, although the threat made his hackles rise. He nodded once at the question. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Jeremy had also gone stiff all over, his young face draining of all color and Damon watched a man's ferocity settle over the boy's features. Jeremy nodded his head once, also acknowledging the question. They all understood one another, at the very least.

Harper returned, all smiles and chatter with two large silver goblets filled with blood for both Damon and Elijah and a large plate of food for Jeremy. Damon intended only to take a sip and drained his instead. Harper watched, smiling and took it, leaving the room and promising to return with more. Damon had clearly lost more blood than he realized at Harper's sharp claws.

Harper returned as promised and perched lightly on the arm of Elijah's chair. Damon noticed that the two of them couldn't be close without touching. Elijah had wrapped an arm around her and she had laced her fingers and his together resting them together high on her thigh. They were like a married couple, almost. It made his chest ache watching them. He would never know how that felt. The familiar pain sloshed around, mimicking his actions as he sloshed the blood left in his second goblet around in the quiet room.

"Well, have you asked your question yet, Damon?" Harper interrupted Damon's pained thoughts with her small, sweet voice.

Damon shook his head and turned to Elijah. "I'm looking for a way to end a sire bond."

"Elena?" Elijah answered his statement with a question, the older vampire's dark eyes narrowing as they studied Damon's face.

Damon nodded. "After the accident Rebecca caused, Elena was changed. We didn't know at the time that she had some of my blood in her." Damon sat down his goblet with a clunk. Frustration had bled into his face, his voice as he leaned back jerkily in his chair. "To further frustrate things, she began to change in ways we didn't understand at first. Now we know that she has been bound to me with a sire bond." He lifted empty hands to Elijah. "I have nothing you would want, and no reason for you to help us, except that I'm desperate. This is well beyond anything any of us have ever seen. The only way we know of as yet to end the thing is with my death, or hers."

Harper interjected then "Which is where this witch came in."

Elijah leaned forward, moving to rest his elbows on the table. Harper laced an arm over his broad shoulders. "Let me see." He laced his fingers together, brow furrowed. "I'm thinking of what I have seen about sire bonds." Damon's frustration mounted as he watched Elijah stare off into space for the span of a breath. And then Elijah began to speak. "I do know that sire bonds only happen when there is a relationship before the change happens. Usually the bond stays in place because it is merely an extension of the relationship. I have seen very few of them broken, actually."

Damon's hopes crashed and burned as Elijah spoke. He didn't know. No one knew how to end one of these. He wanted to rage, to roar in frustration. But Elijah began to speak again.

"Of all people, Damon, honestly I would think you would be the one who could answer your own question." The old vampire said the words so casually that at first Damon didn't catch his meaning. When he did, he turned mouth open and waiting for Elijah to go on.

"How exactly did Katarina free you?" Elijah sounded like he was speaking to a half-witted child. But Damon still didn't understand.

"Really. You've never exactly struck me as naïve, Damon." Elijah smiled and shook his head. "To sum up your own story, you were changed and separated from your sire in the same night. So you spent the next hundred years or so with one singular purpose, to free her and be reunited. When that reunion happened, after waiting a hundred years, you lost all concern or care for your sire in a matter of a few short weeks? After waiting for her for a century? Really? And then your heart recovered quickly and completely enough to fall in love with your brother's girl in the next breath? Is that honestly what you believe?"

Damon felt all the color drain from his face at the words, horror lashing him with every breath he drew. Katherine. Dear, sweet heaven, he had been sire bound to Katherine for a century, caught and waiting. He hadn't even been aware, thinking he was guided by a lover's heart. He had been single minded and driven in his efforts to be with Katherine. It made him feel sick to realize that Elena was probably feeling the same way about him right now. Damon pushed away from the table, stood quickly and found himself standing in the courtyard vomiting blood into the stiff grass underfoot.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Damon had dropped to one knee, his stomach contents littering the ground. But his stomach continued to clench with the horror of the reality he was facing. He shook his head, trying to clear it as he heard footsteps behind him. He caught her scent easily. Harper.

"Are you alright?" Her voice sounded even more small and quiet next to the roaring in his head.

"No, Harper. Not really." He swallowed hard before he wiped his face with one hand and turned to find that she had dropped to the grass a couple of yards behind him.

She smiled kindly up at him and patted the grass, inviting him to sit. Her smile had made the roaring stop for a few seconds, so he sat.

They were silent for a minute or two while he tried to slow his breathing and gather his bearings. He wished he knew where to go from here, but he didn't. For the first time in a long time, he didn't even have a plan, or even the will to pull one together.

Harper had turned and was studying his profile as he stared blindly up in the direction of the moon. She reached one of her small hands and laid it over his. Just her hand on his made his breathing not quite as fractured, made the pounding let up in his brain for a little while. How she did that, he had no clue, but he remembered then that Harper had a good and kind heart, like someone else he knew very well. His eyes burned at that thought, but Harper distracted him when she started to speak.

"I'm going to tell you a story. It's a nice one." She squeezed his hand, there on the grass and he crossed his legs, making himself more comfortable and trying desperately _not_ to think for a change.

"Eons ago a man made a deal with an old witch." Harper smiled, turning to face the full moon as she spoke. Damon watched the light dance across her skin. "She had something he wanted and he would've given her whatever she asked. But she was old. Her concerns weren't for her, but her family, her legacy. So she asked him to watch her children, and her children's children until they didn't walk the earth at all anymore. The man would be around that long, they both knew, so he made his promise. As time passed, the thing seemed a simple answer. He checked from time to time on the old woman's family, assuring they didn't want for material goods, that they were safe and protected." Her smile had faded with her words. "Time passed this way, watching one face fade into old age after another. The man was careful to care from a distance, never really known by the family that he had sworn to protect. He was a stranger to them, and he intended to keep it that way." Damon was lost in her words, his mind's eye seeing Elijah staying to the shadows as a small family prospered under his care. "Wars came. Famine. The man saw that he wouldn't be able to keep his promise and his distance anymore, not both of them. So he broke his own rule." Harper paused, rubbing her hands together, scattering blue dust all around her. Damon had not realized the images in his head, so clear, were anything but his imagination until then. Harper smiled again, the electric blue color dancing across her dark eyes. "The man finally went knocking under the cover of night and gathered the family, moving them before the bombs that he knew were coming. He made the journey with them and a funny thing happened. Along the way, everything changed. Gradually, their children sought him out and fell asleep in his arms. The men went to him for advice or for heated arguments where everyone walked away smiling. The women were quietly honored to serve him." Images, built by her words and her magic danced in his mind. Damon watched dark eyed ladies arguing for the honor of bringing Elijah's meal to him. "The stranger was a stranger no more. He had saved their lives, moving them quietly to ships that took them across the ocean and to the new world, where there were no wars. He had been a savior to them, but they had saved him too. They gave him something he hadn't known he lacked. Their joy, arguments, struggles and tenderness reawakened a heart he had long forgotten needed anyone or anything."

Harper sat quietly, watching Damon in the light. When it appeared she wasn't going to continue, Damon had to ask, "What happened?"

Harper's shoulder rose in a shallow shrug and her smile grew wistful. "The same thing that always happens. Time passed, faces changed. All of it changed, except the man. He was eternal. The men grew proud and greedy. With the stranger around, nothing they did could fail. They thought him a spirit, a charm of sorts. Some of them became reckless. The man realized that he was too close and hurting them by his association. So he left, but the stories were told from one generation to the next about the spirit that watched over the family. Children would try to impress one another with stories of seeing him." She slapped her hands together again, dust scattering around them.

"The family was ravaged then by influenza. The children filled sad little coffins and the elderly soon followed. The flu proved to be something the man couldn't protect them from." Harper's wistful voice trailed off for a moment.

"After the dust settled, one of those children really did see him. In the night, standing in the gardens, he had smiled and winked at her." Harper chuckled. "The girl was eight and had made a friend." Her voice failed for a minute and Damon turned to see that her eyes had filled with tears. "She needed one. She was the last in what was once a proud family and she was lonely. The man saw and it broke his heart. So he came to her and they had tea parties at midnight in her gardens."

Damon wasn't so lost in her story that he didn't see her tears at first. He reached a hand and wiped away some of it, which made Harper smile tenderly at him. She shook off her pain, it seemed, and went on her smile a little broader this time.

"Elijah came and went from my life after that, checking in on me like a wealthy benefactor. He saw to my needs, my education." She looked down at her hands then. "I always knew what he was. I just _knew_." She wagged her fingers, stretching them. "And so someone else, like Elijah came along." She met Damon's eyes then. "I thought all vampires were like him. So I just trusted you. No questions, no suspicion. Open arms." She shrugged.

The shame rose up to meet Damon as he sat there on the grass. He had taken advantage of her, using her trust and her openness against her. He had done it knowingly, slyly and without reservation. Yes, he had lacked his humanity then, but in his mind, that was no real excuse. The end result was still the same.

Harper met Damon's eyes boldly, probably seeing something of what he was thinking. She smiled at him, which twisted Damon's heart a little more. Then she reached and took his hand, warming it with both of hers. She leaned close, forcing him to look at her to say "It's ok. Stop that. No blame. Happy story, remember?" Damon smiled to match her smile and nodded, motioning her to go on.

"When things turned ugly, I changed for a while. I got very angry and spiteful. The others and I organized and set out to clean the area of vampires. All of them. Zeke and a few others like him, a couple more like me, we became a "cleaning crew" for the region. And then _he_ came back to check on me." She smiled at the memory. "I wouldn't let him near me." She actually laughed. "It made him mad as hell, actually. But I didn't care. So he kept trying, coming back and trying to talk to me, but I wouldn't listen, or trust him at all. I yelled, he yelled." She must've seen the surprise in Damon's face at that. "Yes. _He yelled_. And then one day, to shut me up, he kissed me." She smiled, this time a brilliant smile that was lit from within. "And I kissed him back."

She held empty hands up to Damon. "That's my story." She put a hand on his cheek. "One day, I will ask you to tell me your story. But right now it's still being written and it would hurt too much to tell."

Damon had to fight not to hang his head. There would be no story to tell, he felt sure. But he offered her a weak smile instead. He had no ideas, no plan and nothing at all to offer anyone. In the silence, he found himself looking at his own empty hands.

Harper swung her arm wide and the blue dust he had been seeing gathered around them, pulling into a picture in the air that traced itself gracefully into a map. "I'm a multi-tasker. I've been running a spell and I have something for you." A single point on the map pulsed at him. "_This_ is where your Katarina will be in three days' time." She put a hand on his shoulder. "When the defeat fades and the nausea with it, this will be your next step, if I know you at all. I'm just giving you what you'll need then."

He couldn't fight it anymore. He hung his head. "I'm not sure this is worth the effort, Harper."

But the witch smiled again. "She's made you almost human again, Damon. She's worth the fight. And I never liked your brother much." She crossed her arms and for the first time Damon watched disdain play across her face. Damon was lost in confusion for a second. He was thinking, _Disdain for Stefan?_ _But _e_veryone preferred Stefan. Absolutely everyone. Damon was the bad brother, after all. But maybe Harper didn't buy that story, even after what Damon had done. _"Stefan's like a prize winning pedigree dog. He's nice to look at, but has no idea what it really means to be a dog. You, on the other hand," She motioned to all of him with one hand, grinning wickedly. "are a Mastiff that would chew through the furniture, drink from the toilet and then plaster your human to the floor of the foyer in your joy at being reunited at the end of the day, relishing all that it means to be a dog." She even had Damon grinning at the picture she drew. He thought, _Yes, he was exactly like that._

He shook his head in wonder at her and a deep voice behind them filled in the blanks. "She's amazing, isn't she?" Damon turned to find Elijah standing behind them a few feet away on the grass. He nodded in agreement, smiling a little. Elijah stepped close and offered Harper a hand. "Why don't both of you come back inside? And Damon, I suggest that you and Jeremy stay the night while you get your flights arranged. I assume you'll be going after Katarina." Damon smiled, wondering exactly how much of their conversation had been overheard by Elijah. He imagined most of it. If he had such a treasure, he supposed he would guard it closely too.

He paused, remembering that he did have a treasure of his own. And he would guard it closely, as he always had. Soft brown eyes were what kept him going at that point. One day that expression he remembered would be real, and for him. He had to believe that or he would sit down and give up right now.


	7. Chapter 7

Sire Bound, Chapter 7

"Harper, there's so much I should be saying to you." Damon's hand, held out to her in a vague gesture of apology opened and closed feebly.

Damon and Jeremy were making ready to drive away from what had become the tranquility of Harper and Elijah's home. Both of them had been given stern, dark eyed looks from Elijah. They both knew what those looks meant and wouldn't be speaking of what they had seen on this trip, or who. Damon was trying diligently to find a way to force an apology past his rebellious and numb, bloodless lips. Harper deserved that at the very least.

"I'm so…" His throat closed. He was pretty sure he just broke a sweat. _Sorry_. It was such a small word. And after what he had done thirty years ago, it didn't even begin to cover it, but he couldn't even do this right. His eyes met Harper's serene, nearly black eyes and he hoped she could see, just a little of what he was trying to say. He opened his mouth again, to try…again and Harper put a single finger across his lips.

"I understand. I also think I know how hard it is for you to say that." She stepped close and wrapped her small arms around his waist. Damon's mouth opened and closed, like a fish out of water. That's exactly how he felt. He was completely out of his depth in the face of her generosity. Against his leather jacket, still sporting the holes she had torn in it with her sharp teeth a few nights before, Harper spoke the words that Damon had waited lifetimes to hear from someone, anyone. "I forgive you, Damon." He felt his eyes mist at those beautiful words and he wrapped an arm around her thin shoulders. He even forgot for a minute, in his gratitude, that Elijah was quietly watching and likely to rip his head off at the first flicker of anything even remotely inappropriate. That might've stopped him from returning her embrace, but Damon honestly doubted it.

She stepped back, looking up at him again. "Bring your girl here, when all of this is said and done. I'd love to meet her." _So positive_. Harper sounded so sure that things would turn his way. He didn't share her optimism, but he could hope. In the end, it might be all he had. He nodded and smiled at her, starting to pull away, but she took his hand and stopped him. Her voice lowering enough that he had to bend to hear. He could hear the smile in her quiet voice. "It's a hard truth that we can do all the right things and still not get a happy ending. We live with that reality in this life every day. A less know truth is that once in a while someone somewhere smiles on our efforts and we get it all right in spite of ourselves." She patted his hand and walked back to join Elijah just outside their door leaving Damon to wonder at her words. What surprised him more was the blue dust on his hand where she had touched him.

Damon pulled the SUV away from the quiet cabin feeling like he was headed back to a harsh reality that held no escape for him. He had managed, somehow, for the last two days to plan without dwelling on what lay ahead. Now, as he drove, dread sank into his bones, making them ache until breathing in and out seemed an effort.

Jeremy broke silence that had stretched uncomfortably for nearly half an hour. "I have to say, Harper really was as scary as your friend Zeke warned us she was." A youthful grin split the boy's face as he spoke.

Damon reached a hand inside his black leather jacket and wagged a finger at Jeremy through just one of the holes Harper had left in his jacket and subsequently his shoulder. "She had sharp teeth, too." Jeremy laughed.

"I have to wonder if she ever turned that cat on Elijah." Jeremy spoke casually, dropping the idea into the cabin like a stone in a shallow pond.

Damon's imagination ran with it and he couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, yeah. Definitely. And I would've paid money to see the look on his face when he saw her that way for the first time." The two of them laughed together, painting the image of Elijah, all stiff with dignity being faced down by that cat and her sharp teeth.

When the laughter faded, Damon felt the boy go silent and turn to study him. "You went there intending she kill you." There was an unspoken question in Jeremy's statement. Damon's smile faded as he kept his eyes firmly forward.

"I _told you_ to stay in the car for a reason." Damon figured the best defense was a good offense. But Jeremy didn't bite.

After a minute, Jeremy spoke again. "I've been thinking." Damon actually heard the boy's heart stutter in his chest before he spoke again. "I guess it wouldn't totally suck if Elena chose you when all of this is said and done. You won't hear any mouth from me on the subject, anyway." That brought Damon's eyes around in surprise, but the boy was the one avoiding looking at _him_ now. Jeremy's words weren't quite approval, but close. And when it came to the boy's older sister, this was huge. Even Damon knew that. His mouth went dry for a second, looking at the boy's firmly set profile facing determinedly forward.

So Damon offered his own olive branch. Turning back to the road, he said "You won't hear me calling you Junior or kiddo anymore." That drew a quiet gasp of surprise from beside him. "I don't know any "kid" that could look down a mountain lion like that and talk her out of her dinner." He caught Jeremy's eye and smiled. He had understood after some examination that Jeremy had been using a simple reverse psychology in his dealing with Harper that night. And damn it, it had worked. Damon drew a close to the subject with an honest, "Thank you for ignoring my instructions to stay in the car." Jeremy's face spread into an answering smile. "Just don't do it again, alright dude?" That got Damon a grin and a raised brow from the boy who only turned and looked out the window instead of answering. Jeremy wasn't making him any promises.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

Damon and Jeremy were headed for Vegas of all places. He sat in the first class seat next to Jeremy pondering what was to come. It seemed strangely appropriate that he would find his sire, all glitter and false charm, in the city of glitter itself. This would feel like home to Katherine. He wondered for a minute what game she had running in the city and how much trouble it would get her in. Katherine always had an angle, but she had also taught him a valuable lesson with her slick, practiced charm. Not all that glittered was gold. She wore the same face Elena did, but that was where the similarities ended. Elena was gold. Katherine was limestone dipped in glitter. Hard and brittle at her core.

The next problem he faced was how to get Katherine to tell him anything. Every answer had a price with her. There was nothing that came from the goodness of Katherine's heart, for obvious reasons. Yet again, he would be forced to play it by ear. But he would do whatever he had to do to bring this thing to a close.

After that, he wasn't sure where he would go or what he would do. He knew for certain he couldn't stay in Mystic Falls and watch Elena return to Stefan's arms, not after holding her for a while. It would kill him. He turned and looked out the window at the clouds dancing under the wing of the plane.

For just a moment, he closed his eyes and let himself remember the smell of her skin, the feel of her small fingers on him. The memories of the warmth of her lips, her breath across his face filled his mind. If he pushed aside the reality of her reasons for being there and sank into the way he had felt then, believing she had really been there with him and only him, he could relive that joy for just a breath.

Self-deception wasn't a skill of his, unfortunately. After that initial breath of joy, moisture collected slowly behind his closed lids because now he did know and it colored everything. What had been beautiful wasn't anymore. Those memories were changed forever and had turned tawdry. That alone had the power to break an already dead heart.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Damon and Jeremy found Katherine just where Harper said they would. Damon would've expected to find her in a Casino, backstage at an exclusive show of some kind, or maybe in a private poker game. Finding her in a run of the mill coffee shop was a surprise.

As the two of them entered the place, Jeremy took a quiet seat close to the door, just as planned and Damon made his way in her direction. Her appearance was another surprise. She wore her hair smoothed around her face, loose blue jeans and a heather gray sweater. She had on very little make up and, something he would've sworn he'd never see…..tennis shoes. As he approached, she moved her eyes across him before meeting his gaze and for that split second he thought this was actually Elena. The hair, the makeup, the clothes….as always it was uncanny. Then he watched centuries of scheming filter into those dark eyes and he knew the similarities to Elena were only skin deep. A single dark brow rose as he slid into the seat across from her.

A small smile stayed on her face as she spoke between clenched teeth. "You just chased away my breakfast, damn you." Damon turned quickly enough to see a young college kid moving away, head bowed, toward the door. He looked discouraged. _Good, he would live to see another day._

He smiled broadly at Katherine and motioned with a finger at her clothing "What's with the get up?"

Katherine smiled a little, pulling uncomfortably at the sweater. "Hunting clothes. Think of it as a hunter's "camo". She's a genius actually. I get cleaner, better tasting meals hunting this way. And _they_ come to _me_. More flies with honey, I suppose."

"You mean your queen bee act doesn't play everywhere? How unfortunate for you." Damon found himself actually nearly spitting the words at her. Hate was a word that didn't even begin to cover how he felt about her. She had even saved his ass a time or two in the last couple of years and he still couldn't get past the deep abiding distaste for her presence that he always felt when she was near.

Her expression smoothed into one of long suffering as she spoke, "What bad karma have I picked up recently to deserve a visit from the likes of you?"

Damon drew a deep, calming breath as he remembered that he needed something from her, not the other way around. Antagonizing her might not be his smartest move right now.

"I need your help." He met her eyes boldly, one eyebrow up and silently daring her to laugh.

To her credit, she didn't. Katherine studied his face, his eyes, carefully before she spoke again. He saw something move across her expression that he hadn't seen in a long time, but couldn't name. "Tell me what you need and I'll tell you if I'll help." She sounded suspicious.

He clasped his hands together on the table and looked at them at length. "I need to know how to end a sire bond." He heard her sharply indrawn breath. "I already know you've done it at least once." She was staring at him now.

"I won't even ask." She shook her head. He wasn't sure if she meant asking how he knew about the sire bond she had already broken or the sire bond he meant to break. Either way, she was true to her word. She didn't ask.

"I'll tell you it's not pleasant." She lifted her cup of coffee and took a sip.

"Nothing ever is."

"What do I get if I help you?" Damon knew that question was coming. It was always the bottom line for Katherine. What was in it for her?

"What do you want?" He watched her sharp mind working behind those deceptively kind brown eyes.

"After I tell you, I want a kiss. Just one. And like you mean it." That surprised him. He watched her closely as she took another sip of her coffee.

"Alright." He nodded.

Katherine began to speak, giving him the detail he needed about what it would take to end the bond with Elena. What he hadn't counted on was what it would require of him. When Katherine stopped speaking, all of the blood had drained from his face and he'd broken into a cold sweat. Something of his distress must've shown, because Katherine reached across the table and laid one of her hands across one of his.

"Now I think you understand me a little better, huh?" Her eyes were full, glistening at him with unshed tears.

"Not really. Why would you have done that for me?"

She shrugged a little, and a single tear ran down her cheek. She wiped it quickly away and he pretended not to have noticed. "The bond made you different. You weren't you anymore." What she didn't say told him much more. But his heart still felt nothing.

"Thank you." It was more than for the answer. It was for his freedom too. She nodded.

Damon stood and moved to slide into the seat next to her in the booth. He took her in his arms and he kissed her, really kissed her. For just that moment he pushed aside his distaste and all he had ever known of her and pressed his lips to hers with tenderness. When he pulled away, his cheek was wet with her tears but he still felt nothing.

Damon left her there without looking back.


	8. Chapter 8

A SireBound

Chapter 8

On the plane ride home, Damon wasn't much in the mood for talking. After a few attempts at idle conversation and several unanswered questions about what Katherine had to say, Jeremy sank into his iPod and left Damon to his musings, which weren't pleasant. He couldn't explain, and Jeremy wouldn't accept anything less, so they were at a stilted impasse.

Idly, Damon wrapped a single hand around the padded armrest between him and Jeremy, his fingers digging into the covering. He scowled out the plane window, eyes unseeing, wishing for options.

He knew now what he had to do. Knowing definitely didn't make things any easier. Honestly, Damon would've preferred to stare down Harper again. His first plan seemed smoother, cleaner than what he would have to do now. Just thinking of it left him feeling empty. And he knew a little of what he would be inflicting, having already lived the side of it Elena would face.

Thinking of inflicting pain, her pain, was the root of his anguish. This was why he would rather go back to staring into electric blue eyes and seven inch incisors. At least at Harper's hands, the end would've been swift. Harper had never been cruel. His future wasn't so kind. This lengthy opportunity to regret that waited for him, also like a hungry predatory, held no appeal at all.

What Katherine had done to end their shared sire bond had made him hate her with every breath he drew. Elena would hate him too. Damon felt the metal in the armrest bend under the strain of his tensed grip. As casually as he could, he let it go and drew his hand away.

_Why was nothing ever easy?_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx

Damon strode into the Salvatore boarding house, right past a brooding Stefan in the study and up to his room. The roaring in his head had started again. He had to keep moving and preparing or he would back out of this and never do it at all. He pulled out his luggage and began to load the entire contents of his closets and dresser into the open bags. His preparations hadn't got much further than knowing he would have to be gone…and quickly. Destinations hadn't occurred to him yet. It didn't really matter. A one way flight for _somewhere else_ was usually easy to come by and he had done it before.

Drawing a steadying breath, he called Elena. She picked up sounding breathless and he knew the expression she wore when she spoke that way. The roaring changed to a high pitched echo of his pain. Her words were terse, but her tone warm, telling him wordlessly that she wasn't alone. He asked her to come to him in half an hour. He knew he should have his car packed by then.

Half an hour later she knocked. Stefan had taken his motorcycle out, thankfully. Damon didn't treasure the idea of an audience for this performance.

Wide innocent brown eyes took in his expression and seemed to shutter. One look and she knew something was wrong. That single moment, shared between them and she understood vaguely that something had changed. She had always been able to do that, _see him_. Elena could strip away all the layers he hid behind with those wide eyes and just see. Now he had to make sure she wouldn't see though. Purposefully he turned away, heart aching, to lead her wordlessly into the study.

He heard her hitched breathing, a sign of her distress. Drawing a deep breath of his own, he pulled his face into a stiff, quiet mask and turned to meet those soft, sweet brown eyes with what would hopefully resemble icy reserve rather than anguish.

"Elena, listen, I don't think this is going to work anymore." He raised his palms in an empty gesture of frustration and noticed that one of his hands shook. He forced them to his sides before they betrayed him anymore. "This is all a lot of trouble for nothing and it's really just time for me to move on."

Elena had frozen for a moment, her body, her expression caught up in her surprise. The languid way she moved was lost in her confusion, making her drop clumsily onto the arm of the chair behind her. She had been about to reach out to him. He realized that his words had stopped her and he drew in a ragged, relieved breath. Damon could do this as long as she didn't _touch_ _him_. Not now.

Her voice was small and quiet as she said, "I don't…." She swallowed and went on, "I don't understand."

Damon watched her face, seeing the confusion melt away to pain as she forced out the words. He closed his eyes for a split second and felt something inside him twist painfully. He was a man at the gallows and he had just flung open the door, dropping to the end of his own rope. The loud clamoring rung within him. He opened his eyes and pasted a lopsided grin on his face, shrugging in a parody of carelessness. "I'm saying it's been fun." He met her brown eyes just long enough to see them glaze before he moved his focus to somewhere past her left shoulder. "And I think it's time for me to shake off the dust of this sad little town and head for Vegas, I think."

"Vegas?" She echoed it back to him, sounding as hollow as he felt. "But you said…." Elena stopped to swallow again and reached back, scooting down and into the seat, seeming to look for a solid foundation, something to hold onto. She settled on resting both arms on the sides of the chair, her feet now flat on the floor.

Damon cleared his throat and went for broke. "Yeah, I know, I said a lot of things. And that sire bond helped me along the way. The whole point was to take you from my brother, and I did. End of story." When she looked up at him then, her liquid brown eyes were leaking around the edges, but she made no sound.

In answer, Damon swung in the wind, the hanging man. A slow painful death waited his fragile heart as it twisted in the winds of time that lay ahead of him, alone and left only with regret.

He shrugged in the face of her tears.

"So you never…." The words were a quiet wisp of sound in the silence of the room.

Damon walked across the room and poured himself a glass of bourbon. He waited for her to finish the pained sentence and when he was finished pouring she still hadn't. After forcing himself to only sip the drink once, he finished it for her.

"Loved you?" He forced a quiet chuckle out around the pain that surged up to meet hers. This time as his hands shook, he wrapped them both around the glass. She hadn't seen, staring sightlessly at the floor. He sipped again, swishing the amber fluid around and searching for the appropriate lie he had prepared. He forced the laughing tone into his words as he spoke again. "I'm a man, Elena. We "love" to suit our purposes, to get what we want. I got what I wanted." Her quietly streaming eyes increased in force and volume. He thought idly that she was lucky to have such an outlet for her pain. He met her anguished eyes with his calm, hard blue ones and felt the answering painful twist within him.

"If you'll excuse me, I have a flight to arrange." He glanced casually at his watch. "I've been with Katherine in the last few days and she's waiting for me now in Vegas." Elena's chin came up, her head jerking up and to the left as if he had struck her. That had sealed it, as he had known it would. The steady flow of tears ceased as her brown eyes hardened to stone.

_A complete an unequivocal rejection of all that they are_. Katherine had gone looking for answers and found a witch with the recommendation, a theory really. This was exactly what she had done the night she had told Damon that she had never loved him; that it had always been Stefan for her. She hadn't known then what would happen. They both knew now that when the sire bond broke, it left hatred in its wake, or it had for them. But he had been free and she believed she had owed him that for leaving him waiting for her for so long.

In the moment that her hard brown eyes met his, he remembered how raw he had felt when Katherine had set him free. He saw the rawness in Elena's gaze, a flicker of the anger he had also fed into full blown hatred with Katherine.

Elena rose from the chair. It seemed she had regained her own strength and no longer needed the solid foundation that it offered. Her head was held high, cocked slightly to one side, Damon watched her eyes narrow on him before she moved forward and struck a single hard open handed blow across the face. Even then, she hadn't used all of her strength or he'd be picking himself up halfway across the room from the floor. His head slung sideways though, with the force. She moved toward the door, never stopping even to admire her handiwork.

She was free. She wouldn't have been able to bring herself to strike him without her free will. Damon could almost feel the rope drawing tight across his throat, the creak of the wood of his own gallows, built by his own hands for his own execution.

As she reached the door, Damon heard the rumbling sounds of Stefan's motorcycle returning. _How convenient._ Damon watched with pained eyes as she moved toward Stefan and his bike before the door had even swung closed.

_Author's note:_

_I have struggled to write this chapter. I love Damon. I love his fearlessness and how he wears his heart on his sleeve, even after being rejected on every side. Damon even loves fearlessly. This hurt to write because I knew how much this would hurt him, being forced to reject Elena and throw away the only thing in this life that he treasures. _

_He's always the bad guy, always the scapegoat. Somehow he always bears the brunt of every problem and its solution._

_It has been my experience though that in life "always" only applies to the sunrise after long dark nights. _

_I treasure your reviews. Thank you for each of them. They make my day._

_Oh, we're not done here, btw. _


	9. Chapter 9

A SireBound, Chapter 9

Damon stood, face to the gusting winds that would bring the approaching storm, listening to the wind sing around him and through the trees. He was gathering fire wood before it became frozen and unusable. He would need enough to last the length of the storm, not necessarily for survival, but for comfort at least.

The song the wind sang felt familiar. Lonely. He tipped his head up and did it again. He caught a sweet cotton candy scent in the wind that ripped open what little progress he had made. Somehow, here, in the middle of nowhere, he could still convince himself that he caught her scent on the west wind from time to time.

He flatly refused to even wonder at where she was now or what she was doing. It was salt in the wound to remember seeing her moving toward Stefan as she had walked away from the vile things he had been forced to say to her. He was sure they would've reconciled by now, knowing Stefan and his "perfect" forgiving nature. Damon would be the villain, a familiar role. Stefan's forgiving nature never had extended to his brother. That was fine, as long as he didn't have to see it, hear it, breath in the hate she would be feeling for him. He could take a lot of punishment, but that he couldn't take.

It had been a month since he walked away from Mystic Fallls. He had danced across the states for ten days hoping that the things that had distracted him before would work again. Clubs, hotels and women held no appeal. They were empty, just as he was empty. Finally he had given in and called Harper. He rented a small cabin on some of her land and settled into silence just before the first snows came.

Determinedly he turned his back on the strains of that phantom scent and went back into the cabin with the load of firewood he had gathered. As he opened the door, the phone he had bought for emergencies buzzed in the room. He had left his own cell on the bed in his room before he left. There was little point in keeping it with a list of contacts he wouldn't be using. The only number he had taken with him had been Harper's, committed to memory. Even then he had probably known where he would end up. Real friends were hard to come by.

Harper had welcomed him this time with the same warmth and openness he had found in her thirty years ago. It had made him smile to find that his long ago betrayal hadn't spoiled that in her. Her dark eyes had taken in his appearance and asked not a single question. A treasure.

He picked up the phone to hear Elijah's deep voice asking a favor. They had a tenant one mile west of his place that had no emergency phone number available. Harper had concerns about the coming storm, which had dumped several feet of snow in its trek in their direction. The tenant might not be aware, and be caught unprepared. Elijah asked if he would mind paying a quick visit to inform the woman of what was happening.

If Harper had made the call, Damon would've done the thing after railing at her for allowing a woman to use one of her cabins alone during a Utah winter. He held his tongue with Elijah though and promised to find his way in that direction to prevent Elijah needing to make a special trip for the job. He knew that Elijah had been away. If he was here, he would prefer to stay close to Harper, Damon was sure.

This portion of their relationship confused Damon. On one of his few visits to see her, finding Elijah gone again, he had asked Harper if Elijah's frequent absences wore on her. She had only smiled at the question, saying simply, "It is part of who he is, to be moving. I love him. I will take him any way I can get him." To be loved and accepted that way was rare. Damon could understand Elijah's determination to protect her at all costs.

After moving through what had to be done, Damon pulled on a thermal coat and snow boots for the sake of the human he was visiting. He didn't need these things, but didn't want to have to explain not having them to some clueless stranger.

He made the walk in the snow, feeling the first flakes begin to sting his face in the whistling winds. The trees ducked and danced slowly to the sad tune it sang. The dark evergreen boughs reached out like hands catching the snow until it had weighed them down like weary arms with a heavy load. The trees bent under the strain waiting patiently, hopeful that the weight would eventually be removed. He could relate to the concept of being bowed under a burden. Somehow he doubted the spring would bring him relief the way it would relieve the trees, melting away the heavy snow that wore them down to the ground.

Damon broke into the clearing around the small cabin, a replica of his own. Smoke rose from the chimney and a small form in a dark coat was also collecting and moving wood. Maybe this woman had heard about the storm without his intervention at all. He considered then turning and disappearing back into the cover of the trees but hesitated thinking he had already come this far and of the promise he had made.

It was then that he noticed the small form go still and rise slowly, the spine seeming to lengthen and straighten. He saw tension even from his distance of thirty yards or so. The wind had shifted and he caught no scent at all. But this person seemed to know he was there, even before the woman turned.

When she did turn, he saw that she wore a dark cap and hood around her face, but the face was unmistakable and Damon was certain his fragile grasp of reality had just slipped away altogether.

He moved forward, very fast, his caution about showing his nature to an unknown human forgotten. He was sure as he got closer her features would fade into some unfamiliar face. But it didn't happen. Ten feet away, he froze and she had still not moved. This close, he drew in the cotton candy scent, letting it soak into his soul for an endless moment. Searching her face, he met hard brown eyes that held an expression he didn't understand. Elena. He hadn't even let himself think her name in a month.

He opened his mouth and nothing came out. He opened a hand in confusion between them and closed it pointlessly. Finally, around a dry throat and bloodless lips, he spoke. "What the _hell_?" It wasn't eloquent, but it was all he had.

She shifted her weight onto one leg and turned without a word carrying the load of wood she had been collecting back into the cabin. That infuriated him. He followed her, fury fueling his steps.

"Elena, what the hell are you doing here?" Surprise and indignation gave his words more vehemence than he intended and she rose slowly turning to meet him. Still not answering, she unzipped her jacket and discarded it, pulling her cap from her head as well.

What he saw surprised him. Her usually warm, liquid brown eyes were hard and red rimmed. She was thinner, if that was possible. She seemed aware of the changes, her chin rising defiantly as he took in her appearance.

Finally, she answered him. "Waiting." Her normally sweet voice was creaky and harsh. Her answer meant nothing to him at all.

He looked around, for a moment wondering if Stefan was here with her and due to return. The thought clenched something vital in him as his gaze swung around the cabin. He drew a breath and found only her scent in the cabin. She was alone.

He mimicked her actions, removing his coat and pulling out a wooden chair from a small table. He sat in the seat purposefully, indicating he was going nowhere until he got answers. She watched him through narrowed eyes, her lips a white, pained line.

"Waiting for what, exactly?"

"Waiting for you to find whatever it is you need." The words rushed out of her, sounding bitter as she turned away.

He stood then, moving quickly and took her arm in one hand, turning her back and hoping to see what that meant in her eyes. But he could see nothing because they were swimming with tears. He was twisting again, knowing he had put those tears there. He lifted a hand to wipe them away and stopped himself, pulling his hand away and returning to the chair.

"I'm sorry. You're going to have to explain." His own voice was thick with emotion. _What the hell was she doing here? Why was she not with Stefan? Had the bond not broken after all, leaving her hurting as he had done? Was he not only cruel, but needlessly cruel and a failure to boot?_

She jerked her arm out of his grasp and moved slowly the few steps to take a chair, reminding him of a much older woman. She sat as far from him as she could without making a show of it.

"You left. You said you didn't love me. But I don't believe you _never_ loved me." Her voice sounded creaky again and trailed away with her words, losing volume as she went. She cleared her throat and squared her shoulders. "I think we could have something and I'm not ready to give up." She laughed hollowly at herself. "If I've learned nothing else from you in the last year, I've learned tenacity." Elena clasped her hands on the edge of the table, her knuckles turning white. "I can wait." Her eyes swung up at that and they were warm again, hopeful.

Damon closed his eyes as he felt something tear loose. He had hurt her and still been unable to free her. Yawning pain swallowed him whole. "Elena." His voice was weary. He sounded his age for the first time, even to his own ears. "Go back to Mystic Falls and forget me. Love Stefan and go back to your life. Please." A direct command. He would give her back what he had taken, even by accident. He would try now to find the strength to face tomorrow's sunrise without even the final strains of hope.

"No." The word dropped like a coin into a wishing well, echoing the hope it symbolized.

His eyes snapped open in surprise, the unshed tears around them feeling warm and nearly blinding him for a moment. Reflexively he lunged forward to where she sat, pulled her chair out and crouched, one hand grasping each of her arms.

"What did you just say?" Hushed wonder echoed in his words. Without meaning to, he shook her once and she didn't fight him.

Her brown eyes still calm, she smiled. "I said no." She moved to the edge of her seat and pressed against him. Her warm, smooth lips met his. His eyes closed and his hands shook, even while he still held her arms. Light burst behind his eyes as the contact struck a single chord of ringing wonder inside him.


	10. Chapter 10

A SireBound

Chapter 10

The word "no" from Elena was a symphony to his ears.

The fragile control that Damon had been exerting for so long shattered like an empty glass cast on unforgiving stone. The sheer force of will that had got him up with the sunrise, forcing his body through the motions of chores, meals and simply breathing blew apart with the power of the shy kiss she pressed to his lips. In answer, he had no choice about how he would respond. He shook. It started in his hands and rattled upwards. As he pulled her off the chair and to his chest his entire body trembled, forcing him to his knees on the hard wood floor of her small kitchen. He deepened the kiss as he sank his hands into her hair, savoring the taste and feel of her.

_The bond was broken_. She could _defy_ a direct command and yet she was here….with him. Free will. She was with him for every breath, every touch. She echoed in her sweet, musical voice all that he was feeling in a low, throaty groan. Her arms came around him, the warmth and the feel of her answering response sparking an agony of need. Small soft hands wove under his loose shirt tail and to the skin of his back, driving a loud gasp from him at the sizzling current of her touch.

At the sound he made, she snatched her hands away. Looking self-conscious, she tried to push out of his arms, but he had her now and he wasn't letting go. He couldn't. Not again.

He did need to understand, so to distract her from moving away, he said, "After what I said, I don't understand how you're here."

It worked. She stopped pushing at his chest with one hand, going still again. She smoothed a wrinkle in his shirt, staring furiously at it rather than meet his eyes as she spoke. "Over the last few months, I've said and done some awful things to you. Hurt you." She swallowed hard and closed her eyes before she went on. "It was your turn. You were long overdue."

Her words struck him like lightning. _So, was this what it felt like to be forgiven? Even without asking? There was no price to pay? No bargain to be made for her to overlook the terrible things he had been forced to say to her?_ Damon had stopped breathing in his awe.

She went on, her eyes still tightly shut. "After I went home and cried, I thought about all we had been through. I thought about what you said, and about how I still felt. I asked myself what you would do, and I…." She drew a shaky breath, "I came after you." She met his eyes then, and smiled a little. "But you would've barged into my cabin yelling at me on the first day. I hadn't worked up the courage to do that quite yet."

He pulled her closer, sinking his face into her hair. For the first time in a long time, he was utterly speechless. He rested his face against her throat, fighting pressure behind his eyes and could do nothing but hold her tightly with both arms locked like steel bands around her. She seemed to somehow understand, drawing small arms around him and running gentle hands over his back as if to sooth him.

He felt the vibration of her words as she spoke again. "So you didn't mean what you said?" Her question sounded both hopeful and pained. All he could do was a tight shake of his head in denial, his face still pressed to her warm throat. He felt a gusty sigh leave her at his answer.

"You were freeing me from the bond." She seemed to somehow already know. He nodded.

"You're supposed to hate me." He gave voice to his fear.

Her hands paused in their trek across his shoulders in surprise, he supposed. She shook her head, turning so that her breath touched his ear. "I could never do that."

He felt something fall away, a burden laid down; no longer his to carry. The trees under their burden of snow outside would have to wait for warmth to melt away their heavy load. But Damon's spring had come early. _Elena had come…. for him_.

Because he had been on the losing end once too often and this was all too good to be true, he stayed where he was as doubt swept in. Still holding her tightly, he said, "Stefan." He managed to force the word out past the knot in his throat, but just barely.

He felt her draw a deep breath and drew strength from the fact that her hands never left him, her equally tight embrace never wavering. "I've explained to him. He's angry and he doesn't understand. But I've told him that I can't go back. I loved him as a lonely, grieving girl that needed stability and gentleness. But that girl died in the water. I woke up a woman with a woman's needs and a woman's heart. I need fire. Passion." She moved away then so she could meet his eyes. "_I need you_. I love you, Damon. No sire bond, no magic, nothing but me and my heart if you want it."

Both of his hands came up, on their own, to frame her face. He noticed that they were still shaking, but was beyond caring. "If I want it." The irony thick in his voice, he laughed, joy bubbling out of him for the first time in months. His face spread to a crooked smile as he shook his head in amazement. _Did she really not know?_ "There's nothing I want more, Elena. You already have mine. I've been left to walk around without one for….well, it feels like forever."

He watched the caution in her brown eyes slowly blend away to an answering joy as her gaze swept his face. She loved him. _Him_. Given her freedom and a choice, Elena had chosen _him_. She saw all of him, knew all of him and loved him…_anyway_. A treasure. _His treasure_.

He kissed her, wrapping his arms more securely around her. He pulled away for a breath and said the words. He said them against her lips, her shoulder and her throat. He spoke them with his whole heart against every hill and valley of the landscape of her skin. He wanted her never to doubt them again. "I love you, Elena." The real beauty came as she echoed them back to him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx

He woke lying on his back in her small bed. Somewhere along the way they must've moved from the floor of the kitchen to her bed, but he didn't remember. He'd had his mind on other things. He smiled at the thought. Her smooth, even breathing told him she still slept. Her face was upturned, tucked into his side, a small olive skinned arm stretched across his chest. Her hair was tumbled and her face and lips flushed. He had done that. She'd never looked more beautiful. He'd seen her this way before, but it was different this time.

Or at least he hoped so. As he lay, watching her smooth face, doubt cast a cool shadow over the warmth of his unfamiliar joy. _What if, when she woke, it was all a mistake again?_ He had felt this joy before and seen it blow back in his face like a soldier wandering over a landmine. The memory of how it felt to find out it was all not real made his stomach clench in apprehension. He laid there as long as he could and finally reached out, running a finger along her cheekbone. At the touch, her eyes fluttered open.

Brown eyes warmed to him before even the fog had faded from her gaze. "Hi." It was a small word, but she managed to put so much into it. How did she do that? Take any word and make it sound like "_I love you"_?

"Are you sure, Elena?" He smoothed her riot of hair with one hand, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Sure?" Her voice was still slurred with sleep.

"That this is what you want." He needed to know that _he_ really was what _she _wanted.

She moved then, wrapping an arm around his neck and pressing a kiss to his brow. He was then engulfed in an embrace that made him think she wanted not to ever let go.

"I'm sure." She kissed his shoulder lightly. "I might be slow to understand my heart, but when I do, it's settled. You're stuck with me. At this point, where you go I go, whether you like it or not."

Damon smiled against her skin at her words. He hadn't considered how it would feel to have the quiet stubbornness he had come to know so well turned on him this way. It was wonderful, and deeply reassuring.

"How did you find me, by the way?"

She shifted, sinking into his arms again, her head on his chest. "Jeremy."

Damon coughed and laughed in surprise. She went on. "Right. He found me crying after you left. He told me that if I loved you, I was nuts not to go after you." She moved up to meet his eyes, her brows up and her smile wide. "What did you do to him, exactly?"

Damon laughed out loud because he knew she was only half kidding. Both hands raised in denial, he sputtered. "Nothing, I swear."

She grinned, believing him easily before she shrugged. "Well, whatever. He's clearly joined Team Damon. He even told me that he thought you would eventually end up here. He gave me that Harper woman's number and told me to just go. That's when I asked myself what you would do. I ended up here. Actually I got here three days before you. I just hadn't worked up the courage to go see you yet."

"So you've met Harper?" He grinned, thinking of the promise to Harper he never expected he would have the chance to keep. He'd promised to introduce Elena one day. When Elena shook her head, telling him they'd only talked on the phone, something occurred to him.

"There's an important question I have to ask you." He sat up, taking her hands in his own. "You're not a cat person, are you?" When he laughed in relief at the shake of her head, it was clear he was going to have to explain his recently discovered aversion to cats.

The End

_Author's Note:_

_I hope you have enjoyed my answer to the sire bond. I started this because I was angry. I've seen Damon take the brunt of every plot turn for too long. After waiting to see the two of them together, when it does finally happen it's been made into something dirty and wrong. I am frustrated with the writers of TVD. If I wanted to read the books, I would go buy them. I watched the TV program because it wasn't a remake of the books. I expected better. I don't know if I'll have the heart to watch Damon get his broken again. I might be watching when it premieres again…..I might not._

_And I'll just admit it. I despise Stefan. No one is that perfect. Sorry. Give me imperfect every time. At least it's believable._

_Thanks for reading, everyone. Thank you again for your reviews. I can't tell you what it means to hear from you._

**This short story is lovingly dedicated to my own Harper. Like Damon's version, she encourages me, challenges me and takes a bite out of me from time to time. I love you, my friend.**


End file.
